Steel Harbinger
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| Steel Harbinger | |
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| Developer(s) | Mindscape Group |
| Publisher(s) | Mindscape Group |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation |
| Release date | NA September 30, 1996 EU December 1996 |
| Genre(s) | Shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: M |
Steel Harbinger is a videogame for the PlayStation game system, first released on September 30, 1996. It received a score of 7.2/10 at GameSpot.[1] Game Credits: Bill Stanton -- Original Concept; Peter Lipson, Brian Greenstone, Jeff Davies -- Programming; Duncan Knarr, Ken Brose, Dean Lee, Cheryl Blaha, Bill Stanton -- Art;
Cinematic Sequence Credits: Timothy Armstrong -- director; Joe Matulich -- producer; Angela Ford -- associate producer; Bill Zarchy -- director of photography.
[edit] Story
In the year 2069 North America is shaken by war. Canada and Mexico are combating the United States. Not long after the start of the war, alien pods rain down from space onto North America, sprouting metallic tentacles upon landing. The tentacles attack humans and animals, transforming them instantly into monstrous alien biomechanisms (half organic compound, half machine) bent on destroying any human life they encounter.
Dr. Bowen, a scientist, studies one of these pods in an attempt to learn about the alien species. The pod breaks out of control and attacks his daughter, Miranda Bowen (played by actress Wendi Kenya). Miranda escapes, but is still infected by the tentacles. Thus she transforms into Steel Harbinger: a half human, half biomechanical alien, and humanity's last hope for survival. Miranda must battle her way through Kansas, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Houston, Cape Canaveral, Washington, the Antarctic, an alien planetoid, and the Moon in an effort to save the Earth. Naturally, she will not make her way through these areas unopposed. She will find special weapons to destroy the aliens, and once she has killed one, it can be eaten to replenish her strength.
[edit] Gameplay
Steel Harbinger plays as a Top-down perspective shooter. While obviously out of date by today's standards, the graphics were amazing for their time. It was exclusively for the PlayStation.
Made during an age where live action cinematics were cool, Steel Harbinger's cut scenes are all done by real life actors. This is done very effectively, the actors and actresses making convincing performances, making for enjoyable breaks between the alien slaughtering. The slaughtering is made possible by both modern and futuristic weaponry, including handguns, the US M16 rifle, rocket launchers, energy rifles, the Canadian Icarus beam, and more.
As a half-alien, Miranda's biology is different than normal humans. Adding an interesting level hazard to the game, Miranda is fatally wounded by saline water. Falling into it will rapidly deplete your health. Another thing is that to replenish lost health, Miranda is able to consume body parts from slain aliens.
Level design can get stale and repetitive from time to time, as parts of arctic Canada and desert Mexico tend to look similar, if not sharing textures. Nevertheless, levels are massive, making for lots of exploration time as you achieve your objectives. As you go into each major city your primary objective is to activate a military satellite that will protect from falling alien tentacle pods. Your other objectives are usually killing aliens and saving human survivors.
Ultimately, your mission as Miranda Bowen is to save humanity from extinction by the alien invaders.
